Capable
by Kai517TeenWriter
Summary: Sequel to Inescapable. Read that first.
1. Prologue

Varian sighed, setting down his quill. "Is that the last one?"

Craig cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "hey! Is that the last one, man?"

Jonah opened the door to reveal only Cassandra. "I think this is the last one," he laughed, grinning, "am I correct?"

Cass nodded, patting the young guard's shoulder. "I do believe that's about right. Now... What's the proper way to say it? 'I request an audience with the king' or something like that?"

Varian chuckled a little, standing up to join his wife. "Something like that. And permission granted."

Cass smiled as Varian took her hand in his. "You two are dismissed. Should we plan on seeing you at dinner tonight?"

Jonah nodded, but Craig shook his head.

"My sister and her husband are in town this week," he explained quickly, "with my newborn nephew. So... I was going to have supper with them tonight."

"Oh, my gosh! Clara and Pete... I almost forgot!" Cass exclaimed, "tell them that we said hello."

"Will do," Craig said with a goofy little salute, "now... If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go and start preparing for tonight."

"Go on ahead," Varian said, "we'll see you tomorrow morning."

Craig nodded and ran out. Jonah followed him with his eyes, looking like he was trying to figure something out.

"Is everything okay, Jonah?" Varian asked, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "you've been pretty quiet lately."

In fact, neither Craig nor Jonah had been themselves for the past few weeks. Jonah had mellowed out and become quite a bit more quiet, whereas Craig had suddenly become more spontaneous and outgoing. They had even seemed to be growing apart from each other. It kind of worried Varian and Cassandra- the two people that they had on staff, the two others who lived in the newly restored palace, suddenly becoming their own polar opposites- but they had decided to let it be. If Craig or Jonah were being bothered by something, it was their choice whether or not they wanted to address it- and with whom.

"I- I'm fine," Jonah replied stiffly, not even bothering to face them again, "I- I'll be at dinner. I'll see you then."

And he walked right out of the throne room, leaving the young king and queen alone. Varian watched his friend's retreating back for a minute before turning to face Cass.

"Well... That was weird."

She nodded in agreement. "It was. But let's focus on us now, okay?"

Varian smiled a little, gently squeezing her hand. "How was your day, Cassie?"

"Good. We're finally done planning for Dad's retirement party-"

"You're done?"

"I just said that, silly," she exclaimed, playfully shoving him in the chest, "so... Unless any kinks show themselves in the next month, we should be fine."

Varian heaved an overexaggerated sigh of relief, pretending to wipe his brow. "Thank heavens! I was getting lonely in here."

"You have Craig and Jonah," she reminded him, "it's not like I'm the only person here."

"Yeah, but... You're the same Cass as you were before. You're the one constant in this crazy, ever-changing life of mine. And, well, I don't think Craig and Jonah could help me handle the king stuff like you do."

Cassandra grinned at him. "Tough day, huh?"

He waved his hand a little bit. "So-so."

"Just so-so? Not good, not bad? Just mediocre?"

"Well, yeah," he replied, getting that mischievous glint in his eyes, "I mean, nothing burned down, so it wasn't bad. But you weren't here with me today, so... It wasn't good, either."

There used to be a time where, if Varian ever said anything like that to her, Cass would straight-up slap him in the face. Luckily, she had gotten better at that, learning to channel everything into a shy blush as she dug her toe 'into' the floor.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered, again shoving his chest, "you're embarrassing me."

Varian looked around as if checking for other people. "I'm going to let you in on something," he whispered, "there's nobody else here."

"Yeah, well, you're still embarrassing me."

"I know," he murmured into her hair, "and I'm never going to stop doing it. As long as you're mine to embarrass, I'll do it."

"Wow. I can feel the love."

He laughed, holding her close. "Maybe someday, I'll let off. Only a little bit, but still, it's better than nothing."

"Someday?"

"Don't worry, you won't be replaced completely," he said softly, "I'll just have someone else to embarrass."

Cassandra knew what he was inferring here. For whatever reason, neither of them could ever bring the idea up out loud, but they had their ways of hinting. And, after two years of marriage, they understood each other- for the most part.

"About that," she said after awhile, burying her face in his chest, "I've got something to say."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. "Yes, milady?"

Internally, she rolled her eyes, but she continued on anyways. "That 'someday' of yours?"

He nodded, closing his eyes and starting to sway around as if dancing.

"It's actually coming sooner than you think," she finished off, "like... Sometime before the end of the year, maybe?"

He stopped what he was doing, pulling apart to closely study his wife. "Really?"

Cass nodded.

Varian smiled a little bit, hugging her close once again. He was excited to see what the future might hold for them, and he realized that it was only just beginning.


	2. Chapter One

One Month Later

"We are gathered here tonight to recognize and honor Kade Pendergraft for his many years of service here within Coro- I mean, Saporia," King Frederic announced, "for giving us his time in order to ensure our safety, and for doing such a great job with it... We thank you."

Everyone applauded as the king stepped down from the podium. Some people even whooped and hollered. Kade smiled good-naturedly, even as he was trying to direct all the attention away from him. (Luckily- well, luckily for him, at least- Cassandra was furiously blushing, unwittingly drawing attention to herself).

Varian whispered something to Cass, making her laugh. Both Kade and Varian smiled, happy to hear their beloved Cass laugh, delighted to see her enjoying herself. After spending a majority of her life cautious and withdrawn, she was finally starting to come out of her shell- slowly but surely- with the help of Varian.

Varian smiled, gently squeezing her hand. "I love you, milady."

"Varian, please," she murmured, "we're in public..."

He feigned offense, dramatically clutching a hand to his heart. "What, I can't give you the attention you deserve?"

Cassandra blushed, smiling demurely. "You got me. But still, it's Dad's party. And you know that I'm still trying to get used to attention..."

"Aww, lighten up, Cass," Jonah suddenly slurred from across the table, "the guy's actually being subtle for once, and what do you do? You shut him down."

Both Cass and Varian blushed furiously. Craig turned to face them from the next table over, glaring at his best friend. Kade tilted his head to the side, curious.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Craig protested on behalf of Varian and Cass, "he's just trying to show her his affection."

Varian nodded firmly, putting a protective arm around Cassandra. Cass shot him a glance but allowed him to hold her close nonetheless. She had nothing against Varian, really, but still... She would prefer it if he could keep his affections refined to private places and times.

"You're wrong," Jonah drawled, "it's pretty bad, especially now that Cassandra's..."

He suddenly stopped, turned around, and got sick.

All over the floor.

Craig was on his feet immediately, handing Hugo back to Clara before running to his friend's aid. He helped hoist Jonah up, guiding him out of the room. Almost instantly, there were maids and servants there, helping clean up the mess.

"Well, that..." Cass muttered, "that happened."

"You can say that again," Varian agreed readily, "let's just hope it doesn't happen again."

"Which part? The part where we got embarrassed? Or the part where he got sick and had to get helped out?"

Varian laughed. "How about both?"

"Agreed," she smiled, "agreed."

Finally, they settled down. Cass rested her head on Varian's shoulder a little bit. Kade gazed at his daughter and her husband for a moment, seeming to be formulating what to say next. He settled on the question that was burning in his mind.

"What did he mean?" he asked softly, "what did he mean when he said 'it's pretty bad, especially now that Cassandra's...' What was he going to say?"

Again, they both blushed but managed smiles nonetheless. Varian gently took Cassandra's hand in his, squeezing it. She smiled shyly at him before addressing her father.

"Well... You see, Dad, I..." she began awkwardly, beginning to pick at her sleeve, "I... I'm..."

Varian pressed a gentle kiss to her temple, running his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Dad... I... I'm pregnant," she finally managed in a small voice, "so... Yeah."

Kade blinked. "Cassandra..."

She smiled softly as Varian grinned. He could never help grinning every single time he even thought about it, really. Even just imagining it, imagining himself and Cassandra... Imagining himself and Cassandra with a kid of their own... It excited him more than anything else.

Nobody spoke for awhile, just letting the news sink in. Around them, the party went on, but that didn't seem to matter anymore.

"I'll be right back," Cass said suddenly, standing up and grabbing her plate, "I'm going to grab myself some seconds."

She disappeared, leaving Varian alone with Kade. They sat and stared at each other for about a minute before either of them spoke again.

"So... How are you planning on spending your retirement?" Varian asked, "you gonna come out to Old Corona more often?"

Kade looked down at his meal. "Perhaps."

"Why just 'perhaps'? Are you trying to avoid us or something?"

Varian was only part joking at this time, but... It was a real question. And he wanted real answers, too.

"No! Of course not," Kade replied quickly, "it's just... I haven't quite figured everything out yet."

Varian just nodded, poking at his food. "I can relate. It's not like you can plan for every contingency."

"Indeed."

Varian sighed a little, looking up at his father-in-law. "Even Cass is working on trying to understand that... Not everything goes as planned. I've told her before, and I'll probably have to tell her again, that sometimes- most of the time, really- that life has a plan of its own. Sometimes, its plan aligns with yours, but, more often than not, it doesn't. It throws you for a loop, so to speak, and you can't do anything about it. You can't do anything but just go with it."

They let that sink in for a little longer. Cassandra still had not returned, so they decided to talk a little more.

"So... That's pretty big," Kade said, "I mean, about Cassandra."

Varian tilted his head back, downing half his glass of water before replying. "Yeah... It's pretty crazy. I mean... Wow. You know?"

Kade laughed a little, Varian's inability to form a complete, accurate thought- yet somehow, his ability to get a thought across- breaking through. By now, Varian was grinning, hardly able to contain his excitement. It was a contagious grin, one that was reminiscent of his "old self," who he was before he lost his father...

A plate was placed on the table and Varian looked up to see Cassandra. His conversation with Kade was over for now. But he was okay. So long as he had people he cared about near him, he'd be just fine.


	3. Chapter Two

There was socializing. Of course there was socializing. If she'd had her way, Cassandra would've just had dinner, chatted quickly with her friends and father and then just... Left. Unfortunately, that was not an option.

Socializing... It unnerved Cass to no extent. Perhaps it would've been easier on her if she'd been born into royalty. Of course, though, that was not the case. She had married into it. And she had to accept the fact that her husband wasn't used to it, either. He was just as clueless as she was.

"Cass!" Rapunzel called, loud and perky, as she ran up to join her friend, "hey! How have you been?"

The princess engulfed Cassandra in a big bear hug, one so tight that Cass could practically hear her bones cracking. She grunted a little, awkwardly patting her friend on the back in hopes of being relinquished.

"Okay, Raps," she managed in a strained voice, "be careful, okay? I don't think that anyone would feel like bringing a rag doll home today."

Rapunzel gave a short, awkward chuckle before letting Cass go. "Sorry..."

But Cassandra's attention had been diverted away from the princess. All the way across the room, Varian was in the middle of what seemed to be an intense game of tag with some of the Saporian children. She smiled to herself as she watched the scene unfold.

"You know, he's gonna make a great dad someday," Rapunzel said, putting a hand on Cass's shoulder, "Varian, I mean."

Cass nodded. "Yeah... Our children will be really lucky to get to call him their father."

Rapunzel gently squeezed Cass's shoulder and said good-bye, heading off to socialize with other people at the party. Varian looked up at Cass just then, scooping one of the little girls up and spinning her around before placing her on his shoulders. Cass waved at him and he grinned, waving back.

Cassandra was content to just stand and watch her husband as he interacted with the Saporian children. Images flashed through her mind, images of a possible future.

She could easily see herself and Varian growing older, raising kids of their very own. Practical miniatures of themselves.

The idea alone sent shivers down her spine.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to observe Varian, continued to watch his interactions with the village children. She was so immersed, in fact, that she hardly noticed it when a young woman- quite possibly younger than Varian, actually- joined her.

"Is one of them yours?"

Cass startled a little, but managed to maintain her cool as she replied, "yeah. You see the tall one with the dark hair and dorky grin?"

The woman chuckled. "Clever. But... He's good with the kids, that's for sure."

Cassandra glanced over at her new companion, studying her wide blue eyes, her kind smile, her short, auburn locks. Other than the fact that one of the little girls Varian was playing with- the girl that was still seated high upon his shoulders- bore a surprisingly strong resemblance to the woman, Cass was unsure of why she looked so familiar.

"Yeah," she agreed, returning her gaze to the activity across the room, "indeed. So, is... Is one of them..."

"Mine?" the woman supplied, giving a slight, knowing smile, "yeah. That one's Bianca."

She was looking at her little look-alike, who was happily perched on Varian's shoulders. He quickly spun around and she squealed with delight, clapping her hands gleefully before laying them to rest in his hair.

"She seems to be pretty fond of... I never caught his name. Or yours, for that matter."

Cass laughed a little, trying not to seem uninterested in what this woman had to say. But, in all reality, Cass wanted nothing more than to just get out. To get away from all of the people.

"That's Varian," she said, pointing to him, "and I'm Cassandra. How about you?"

"Viola," the woman smiled warmly, still focused on the scene before them, "you know, he looks kind of familiar..."

"Well, he is the king of Old Corona," Cass said, an unexpected edge of bitterness creeping into her voice, "that's probably why."

"Well, then, your highness," Viola retorted, unsure of why they were being sassy, but enjoying it nonetheless, "I think you both need to make public appearances a priority, huh?"

"We had a big, public coronation a few years ago."

"And I had a little kid to care for a few years ago."

Before Cass could make another quip- preferably at Viola's expense- Varian was suddenly at their side, Bianca laughing and squealing with joy. He gave Cassandra that goofy grin of his before looking at Viola.

"I'm assuming that little Bumble-Bee here belongs to you?" he asked her.

He suddenly realized how awkward and rude that probably sounded, and he tried to backpedal as best as he could. "I mean... She looks exactly like you, so..."

And you happen to look almost exactly like...

No.

He knew about doppelgangers, people who look like other people. Varian shuddered a little, remembering his most recent encounter with a doppelganger. (Let's just say... It wasn't Cassandra, as he had thought).

"Yeah," Viola said, reaching to take her daughter in her arms, "I'm Viola."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Viola," he replied, wrapping an arm around Cassandra's waist, "I'm Varian. I see you've met Cass."

Cass sighed deeply, trying to send him a message with her eyes. Please, let's just get out of here. I don't want to be around all these people anymore.

But Varian paid her no attention. Instead, he struck up a conversation with Viola, leaving Cass with her thoughts.

Finally, there was a break in the conversation, one which Cass decided she'd exploit.

"Hey, Varian," she murmured softly, "can we... Can we get out of here? Just for awhile? Maybe check on Craig and Jonah or something?"

Varian flashed an apologetic smile in Viola's direction. "Um... Yeah, sure. As you wish, milady."

Without any other hesitation, Cassandra grabbed him by the arm and began to hurry out of the room, Varian in tow.


End file.
